Darksiders III (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.0.1 Update

Darksiders III is a 2018 action role-playing game developed by Gunfire Games and published by THQ Nordic. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in November 2018. A Stadia version and Nintendo Switch port were released in September 2021. It is the third entry in the Darksiders series. Darksiders III departs from the gameplay of the previous entries and incorporates elements from Metroidvanias and Soulslikes.

Taking place before the first Darksiders game, the player controls Fury, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, in her quest to capture the seven deadly sins that have taken corporeal form and escaped imprisonment. In their quest, players can use a variety of melee and magical weapons and gain experience points and currency to upgrade Fury’s powers and weapons. Darksiders III received mixed reviews from critics, who highlighted the technical issues and bugs on both PC and console versions, as well as the too-simplistic combat and puzzle systems.

Embark on a harrowing return to a post-apocalyptic Earth in Darksiders III, an action-packed hack-n-slash adventure.  Take on the role of FURY, the most mysterious and unpredictable of the Four Horsemen, as she sets out on a perilous mission to track down and eliminate the Seven Deadly Sins.  FURY must succeed where others have faltered, restoring balance to the war-torn Earth. This edition includes Darksiders III and two DLCs: The Crucible and Keepers of the Void.  The Crucible: Prepare for an awe-inspiring spectacle in this legendary digital marvel known as The Crucible.

Competitors shall receive an earth-shattering experience beyond imagination, a challenge spoken of in hushed whispers across the universe. Even the Creator himself could not fathom the grandeur contained within this mythical arena. Keepers of the Void: Answering a quest from Vulgrim, FURY ventures into the Serpent Holes to confront an ancient menace lurking within. Prepare for new locations, puzzles, and adversaries eager to test FURY’s skills. As a reward, unlock awe-inspiring weapon forms for the Hollows and claim the ultimate prize: The Abyssal Armor, a legendary artifact of immense power.

GAMEPLAY

Darksiders III is a departure from the previous games, borrowing structure and gameplay elements from Metroidvanias and Soulslikes, and the game is viewed as a mashup of elements of previous games and a new direction. Players take control of Fury, sister of War and Death, two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from a third-person perspective. Fury, a mage who is described as the most unpredictable and enigmatic of the Four Horsemen, relies on whips, swords, flails, daggers, and magic in combat.

Fury can take on multiple different elemental forms to enhance her combat capabilities by granting her new weapons, attacks, and traversal abilities. The combat is described as more methodical and straightforward, not focusing on large crowds of enemies like the previous games and removing the hit counter. Enemies are stronger than in previous installments but appear in smaller numbers during encounters, to make battles feel more personal. Some enemies from previous games return, while other foes are new.

Gated combat is not a feature, in an attempt to make everything within the setting contextualized and interconnected like the Dark Souls series. Darksiders III focuses on its leveling system in which Fury’s damage, health, and arcane damage can be upgraded. The threats of the game’s world will grow stronger as the player progresses through the story. Similar to War, yet dissimilar to Death, Fury collects souls from enemies and objects in the environment, as a form of currency or an expendable resource.

The player can attach “Enhancement” to Fury’s weapons for different perks and damage boosts. The game takes place in a continuous environment where exploration plays a large role in gathering more lurchers and materials to upgrade Fury herself and her arsenal. While exploring, Fury must solve simple puzzles and overcome platforming obstacles, some of which make use of her whip. Such puzzles include using bombs to blow up obstructed pathways or Fury’s Forms to interact with the environment.

PLOT

Taking place parallel to the events of Darksiders II and before the majority of Darksiders, Fury, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is summoned by the Charred Council, a group of mythical beings tasked with upholding the Balance in the universe. They task her with hunting down the Seven Deadly Sins, which have escaped imprisonment, and assign her a Watcher to ensure she fulfills her task. Upon arriving on the war-torn, post-apocalyptic Earth, Fury encounters and defeats the first of the Sins, Envy. She claims one of her talismans and uses it as a prison to hold Envy before venturing to a sanctuary named Haven, where she encounters Ulthane, a member of the Maker race, and some humans who survived the Apocalypse.

Ulthane asks Fury to send any humans she finds to Haven. She then leaves to find the next Sin, Wrath, who mortally wounds her when she is distracted by the death of her horse, Rampage. A portal opens up below her and takes her to the Lord of the Hollows, a powerful entity with the ability to release other beings from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth in the Well of Souls. He heals her and reveals that she is being manipulated by the Charred Council for their schemes. He aids her by giving her the Fire Hollow, a mystical artifact that enhances her combat abilities, and asks her to hunt down the demon Abraxis and return to him with the demon’s soul.

As Fury continues to capture the Sins, the Lord of Hollows gifts her with new Hollows to aid in her mission which allows her to manipulate different elements. Fury confronts Abraxis in his stronghold who tells her that a new dark lord only known as “The Destroyer” is coming. Players can then choose to believe Abraxis or to kill Abraxis. Returning Abraxis’ soul to the Lord makes him reveal that he was once part of the Charred Council but left over disagreements on how to enforce the Balance since the Kingdom of Man was ignored among the fights of Heaven and Hell. The Lord of Hollows will die regardless of the player’s choice but siding with him grants Fury a Sigil with unknown properties.

Eventually, Fury confronts and defeats the final Sin, Pride who reveals that the Council has been secretly betraying the Balance behind everyone’s backs from the start. At this point, the Watcher reveals herself to be the real Envy, having tricked Fury and the Council to strengthen herself by absorbing the rest of the sins into her amulet, gaining their powers. She uses her talisman to immobilize Fury and drain her powers while informing her that the Council tried to pit Horsemen against Sins in the hopes that they would annihilate each other. Fury falls to Earth but is saved by humans she helped to rescue. Ulthane then reveals that he constructed a Reflecting Pool, a gateway that allows Fury to confront both Envy and the Charred Council.

She then reveals her acquisition of the Hollow Lord’s gift to the maker, who is awestruck at the sight of it, but refuses when offered the relic out of shame for past misdeeds, before Fury travels to the Council chamber and defeats Envy. Not long after the Council turns on her but the rider ultimately holds back her former handlers by detonating the Talisman of Sin and retreating to Earth. If she obtained the Sigil from the Lord of Hollows, she would first use it to block the Council’s attacks, revealing that the Council is afraid of the artifact. Returning to Earth, Fury helps the Makers to defend the humans escaping through the Reflecting Pool to another realm while demons attack Haven.

Fury decides to follow the humans as their new protector, after asking Ulthane to help War if the two of them ever meet (a reference to the events of the first Darksiders). Before leaving, a human helping to defend the Makers from the attack is revealed to be a disguised Strife, one of the other Horseman. With the survivors now safe and hidden away in another realm, it is revealed that the demon lord Lucifer knows what Fury has done and, depending on the player’s choices, is either pleased that the Sigil was not created and that everything is going according to plan, or irritated that the Sigil may threaten his plans, and angered at his compatriot Lilith for not silencing the Lord of Hollows when she had the chance.